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Beach Boulder Fest - Francesca Metcalf

September 02, 2012 -
Francesca Metcalf

Not long ago was the Beach and Boulder Fest at MetroRock North in Newburyport. It was a regular, small comp- with a twist. The redpoint at the beginning went as usual, with some interesting problems and some psyched local climbers. It was great being able to climb with my sisters again as well as see many of the climbers that I grew up with that I hadn't been able to see all year. It was a pretty chill comp- my favorite kind- where everyone works together to get psyched and send. I was really excited to hear that both of my sisters and I all made it to finals, as well as some close friends.

Finals were totally different than any other I had competed in. Instead of a usual onsite, they were in a knock out format. We started with eight climbers. First place then went against eighth, second against seventh and so on. There were two problems for the eight of us, to knock us down to four. Eighth place went on the first one and seventh on the second one for four minutes. After their time was up, first and second would go on the climb. Then the two groups switched and did the same thing on the other climb. Then third, fourth, fifth and sixth did the same. The winner from each group moved on to the next round where there were two more climbs. First went against fourth and second went against third in the same fashion as the first round. Then the winners from that moved on to the final round, which only had one climb. Katie Lamb and I were the final two since we had both flashed the previous four climbs. The final climb was really interesting and fun. It started with a feet first move followed by a powerful traverse and a cross to an undercling and finally a big throw to the finish. I flashed the climb, keeping me in first, followed by Katie, then both of my sisters. Andrew Kim won for guys, followed by Katie Lamb's brother Andy.

It was a really fun comp, and a great way to kick off the bouldering season. For now though, I can't just focus on bouldering. I'm getting ready to compete in the rope climbing world cup being held in just a few weeks at Stone Summit. Until then, I'm trying to split my focus equally between the two as well as get back into the groove at school. So far it's been going pretty well, but with a hard semester in front of me, it's going to take a lot of time management. Wish me luck!